Kaiwai Gardiner

Unfortunately many people are irrational when it comes to understanding a business; for example, take a look at Apple from 1997 where profits dipped but instead of cutting staff - the total R&D increased and hiring increased. When only looks over the 12 years since Steve Jobs return one can see that those sacrifices of short term profits for long term gain has resulted in what one sees today. Too many people want to have over night profits and if they don't get those results over night they feel as though management isn't giving them what they want - they want to be a millionaire by the age of 40 and retire at 50. Delusions drive irrational behaviour - just as one Ayn Rand enjoyed watching shows where ordinary people did extraordinary things - one also has to look at all the hard work required to get to that point. Too much time by the media is spent on people who make it big off luck thus giving the illusion that all can have that luck - the reality is that the vast majority of people hit it big after many years of failures, a lot of hardship and sacrifice. Those who make it big over night are but a small few. Then again, it goes back to how children are raised by their parents. Everything starts when they're young - the way people behave are the result of the values instilled at an early age.

I would argue that forms of relaxation are also productive as well; taking going for a walk, I find that if I am doing an assignment, if I go and relax by taking a walk I can clear my head and logically think through the problem; thus mixing relaxing with production

If the ideology threatens ones existence then one could justify it; lets hypothetically say that a Jew heard Hitler propagating his political ideology of the final solution - would it be ethical for that Jew to kill Hitler to save millions from death camps? I would argue that it is ethical for that Jew to kill Hitler because of his ideological beliefs. Replace Nazism with what ever ideology that threatens your existence; not merely a nuisance such as excessive taxation but threatens to wipe you out and there isn't a thing you can change about your self to avoid that fait.

Regarding Muslim immigration; the question Europe has to ask itself is why hasn't there been the same success when it comes to integration as in other countries? racism within Europe may not be overt but I can assure you that it exists as a strong undercurrent in many of these countries. Europeans may prance around boasting about their 'enlightened' socialist paradise but underneath it all is an insidious collectivist and xenophobic under current where they're happy to 'respect' other people as so long as they conform not just to share values but to drop all remnants of their identity in favour of this newly constructed one by the collective.

Liberal politicians suffer from a bad case of van guardism who see actors and athletes as the perfect vehicle to 'educating' the great unwashed masses to the need for a socialist revolution through veiled appeals to crisis - the 'environmentalist' movement being the best example (its interesting how so many Green Party members in New Zealand were former Communists - and not of the Anarcho-Communist type). The actors and athletes make their way before the alter at the church of environmentalism, genuflect and pay their penance in the form of 'carbon offsets', install a couple of solar panels and drive a hybrid and apparently all their sins are forgiven. They get to do anything they want and the politicians get high profile propaganda agents to spread their message. It is the same sort of relationship one saw between the Bolsheviks and the artistic movement; too bad many of them were too stupid to realise that they were supporting a party who will eventually destroy their art if they dare show originality or willingness to push the boundaries.

I view marriage as a contract so anything that violates the contract as a no-no; having an affair is a violation of that contract. On a personal note though I find that the most hurtful thing isn't the affair itself but the lack of honesty and communication; generally speaking if a person has an affair there is some underlying reason for it; even if the relationship falls to pieces, if both sides fail to acknowledge the root cause of the relationship falling to pieces, the next relationship they have will most likely end in the same way.

I tend to find that those who make such claims never understood it correctly in the first place - the 'life boat' scenario is the prime example of how those who lack understanding of objectivism 'lose face' when they aren't able to adequately critique the opponents scenario. So long story short, you don't grow out of objectivism - you never understood objectivism in the first place.

I wouldn't classify myself as an Agnostic but instead a Deist; Personally I don't see a conflict between objectivism and deism given that this 'god' if you wish to call it that has no impact nor does it make claims to having some sort of knowledge over and above me as delivered in the form of scriptural revelation. Where as agnosticism is more or less the belief in the possibility of a personal god, deism on the other hand uses the term 'god' as a metaphysical representation of a some sort of 'force' that exists within nature.

Because they've already made up their mind - any attempt at dialogue is like trying to speak to a stone. I never stated gay is genetic - I simply stated that it isn't a choice one simply makes out of the blue; you are who you are.

When ever I see such drivel as that it reminds me of the following:

FDA can also be used by large businesses to block competitors from getting their product into the market - or to give false 'healthy' ticks on things because sufficient money is passed under the table.

Regarding 'copyright' infringement, it is difficult to be consistent given that each form is different due the nature of it. Copying music to me is akin to standing at a concert, putting a microphone in the air and recording it OR sitting with ones friends and listening to some music. There is no physical 'property' lost. For me I take a middle road though; if I can purchase the music I will but if the music is out of print or I can't purchase it then I don't see downloading as 'stealing' given that I can't 'legally' acquire a physical copy.

I look at females the same way that I look at an building; it might be impressive, have form and the shape maybe visually pleasing but there is no attraction in the form of wanting to create a relationship and express love through sex. Lets translate it into straight guy speak; you might know a guy, he has a great physique and you admire it - but that doesn't mean that you want to form a relationship that leads to sex being used as a vehicle for expressing love.

Of course, but we are talking about Joe and Jane Average who believe that 'politicians know best' - yes, I've actually seen people on the left who have stood up and explicitly stated that if the politicians think that something should be done - that they should follow it without question.

Regarding the religion issue - cultural and moral relativism results in a nihilistic society where ones behavior isn't regulated by either a religious or philosophical framework (implemented by the individual over their own life rather than by some external force) but instead simply floating through life doing what people want based on irrational immediate satisfaction with little consideration of the long term consequences. Reminds me of the chapter in Michael Onfray's "Atheist Manifesto" where he points out that we aren't in an atheist society but instead it is a nihilistic society. Ayn Rand saw the result of the decline of religion - and the consequences of something didn't rise in its place. Objectivism is an attempt to step in where religion once stood (but without the elements that come with religions).

Its the slippery slope as you pointed out (and the unintended consequences): What I think people also need to look at is New Zealand today and compare it to what it was like 12 years ago. When the Labour party came to power they talked about a 39% tax hitting the top 5% of the population and it would never hit the middle class; this tax was going to be dedicated to reforming the health system. It promised that they weren't going to a cycle of a money grab and that any money raised was going to be spent frugally. Fast forward 12 years and now up to 20-30% of the NZ population are being hit by the 39% tax rate, the money is being used for more than just the health system, and there has been encroachments into the lives of people under 'caring for people'. It is the old story - give a Socialist an inch and they'll take a mile. We only need to look at the US even under Bush; spend, spend, spend, borrow, borrrow, borrow - which is just as bad (if not worse) than tax, tax, tax, spend, spend, spend.

Are there any Objectivists here who have read Leo Strauss writings; specifically the 'myth of the nation' that both the left and right wing seem to indulge in?

Which doesn't address a single issue relating to homosexuality/same sex attraction - it is long winded globby-goop. It is up to you to demonstrate at a moment in mine or someone else's life that we consciously woke up and decided to be attracted to the same sex; that is, we actively decided at some point to reject the apparent 'natural' (calls to nature by their very construct are dubious to begin with - they're merely an extension of the 'eww yuck' argument) desires of attraction to the opposite sex in favour of same sex attraction. Until you can nail that down - the basis of your argument will be on how you feel, and feelings on the matter is nothing more than emotions born out of ignorance, fear and lack of understanding and/or empathy with a possible feeling that you must impose you world view to achieve stature to your own path that you live.

No chances of me acting normal any time soon lol reminds me of the lyric from a Morrissey song " "There is no such thing in life as normal" lol, got the sensible shoes, the feminine gestures but sorry, I refuse to use the word fabulous

lol, yeah, I sometimes wonder whether my cat has read my Objectivist books given she displays rational self interest lol. I guess I have the old school notion of 'helping those who are willing to help themselves'; differentiating between the poor who are there through no fault of their own and those who created their own 'personal hell'. Helping a person who is unwilling to help themselves is neither beneficial to me (throw good money after bad) or him (dependency resulting in low self esteem, thus more likely to be criminal because of it (through lack of self respect) and thus I end up getting effected because of it). Which ever way one looks at it - it eventually boomerangs back

I think the disheartening comes from wanting a boyfriend but finding someone whom I can share at least some sort of philosophical discussion with is difficult at the best of times. Or worse, the self hatred that seems to exist in the west when it comes to the cultural relativism that exists these days; which goes hand in hand with moral relativism. Yeah, I noticed just a couple as I was reading through some of the profiles; its good to see other like minded people here. I have to admit, I am a bit of a softy when it comes to wanting to help those in need - I guess long term exposure to Catholicism turned me into a bleeding heart lol

Just signed up - my name is kind of buggered up, it should be Kaiwai Gardiner (and not the misspelling). I kind of stumbled into Objectivism in that I have views that were Objectivist in nature before becoming interested in it - moments where the light bulb would go off in my head such as the link between government controlled health care, legislating what one can do with ones own body and the collectivist notion that ones life ends up being owned by the collective rather than by the individual (and thus all the implications that come off from that). I'm a bit disheartened at the number of gays who also are left wing - someone hasn't notified them that the same sort of social engineering that the left use to justify what they want are the same tools used by anti-freedom individuals on the right.

Father a Catholic, Mother a Church of England - never were really spiritual from the point of view quoting scriptures but talked about being a good person and having some sort of spiritual or philosophical component to ones life as being a positive attribute to guide oneself. I've decided on Deism as my belief - manly that I can believe in a god or higher being but the idea of a god that interacts with the world or that we have to be reliant on 'him', 'her' or 'it' in the form of scriptures kind negates the whole reason for us having a brain that can do so much more than an privative animal.

Successful career is subjective given that success is defined by oneself and not by others. For example, if you only have the capacity (due to ones intellectual limitations) to be a trash collector, but you strive (and achieve) to be the best trash collector - you're still a success in your given career.

Healthcare vouchers + Allow insurance to be sold across state lines, then allow the freemarket to work from there.